USDA: Thirsty crops deteriorate further, desperate for rain
Earlier this morning traders were expecting the USDA’s latest Crop Progress report to show a 3 to 5 percentage point drop for both corn soybean condition ratings, and the USDA didn’t disappoint. Monday’s report showed that the nation’s corn crop has plummet by 5 percentage points. Nearly half of the nation’s corn fields are now rated in poor to very poor condition.Here's the report (13 page PDF)
Corn: 45 percent in poor to very poor condition
The report showed that 86 percent of corn has now silked, which is well above last year’s report of 56 percent. Twenty-two percent of corn is now in the dough stage and 6 percent of corn has dented, compared to the five-year average of 9 and 2 percent.
Nationally, crop conditions stumbled again this week, falling by 5 percentage points:
Very Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent This week 21 24 29 23 3 Last week 16 22 31 27 4 Last year 5 9 24 46 16
This week marks the eighth consecutive report with falling crop conditions....MORE
